RAF jets bomb Gaddafi troops as Libya captive denies WPc murder

British fighter jets attacked Colonel Gaddafi's ground forces as a battle for the key town of Ajdabiya raged today.

More UK special forces were being dropped into Libya to stop the dictator's attacks on his own people. In London, there were fresh hopes that the killer of Pc Yvonne Fletcher, who was shot outside the Libyan embassy in 1984, will be brought to justice after a Libyan diplomat was held by rebel forces.

British Tornado GR4 jets fired precision-guided Brimstone missiles last night at armoured vehicles which the Libyan regime was using against civilians, Defence Secretary Liam Fox said.

French aircraft also took part in the military strikes around Ajdabiya, which has been under siege for more than a week, with the rebels holding the city centre under shelling from the regime's troops on the outskirts.

The town is at a strategic junction on the road that leads from rebel stronghold Benghazi and Tobruk, the town closest to Libya's border with Egypt.

The no-fly zone will now be enforced by Nato after a climbdown by French president Nicolas Sarkozy but talks are continuing to resolve a bitter dispute between France and Turkey over who should take control of military strikes against Gaddafi's ground forces.

Turkish prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan criticised Paris, saying: "I wish that those who only see oil, gold mines and underground treasures when they look in that direction would see the region through glasses of conscience from now on."

A fanatical Gaddafi supporter linked to the shooting of policewoman Fletcher has agreed to return to London to help police investigate her death after he was captured.

Omar Ahmed Sodani, 59, was a diplomat at the Libyan embassy in St James's Square when she was killed. His fingerprints were later found in the room on the first-floor near the window from which the shot was believed to be fired.

Sodani insisted he was not responsible for the murder but said he did have information that could identify the killer. He said there were three men who the Metropolitan Police should focus enquiries on. "Two were students, both called Saleh, and the third person was a diplomat, Abdul Gader."